An Assessment of the Benchmarks for the Selection of Contractors for Road Construction Projects in Ogun and Lagos States

The study involved exploratory survey of relevant variables that guide the selection of contractors for road construction projects in Nigeria. Purposive sampling technique and pilot study was carried out using the Kendall’s Coefficient of Concordance (KCC). Data obtained were analyzed using Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) was used to provide a framework for contractors’ selection. Descriptive analysis carried out showed that Manpower Level has the highest mean value of 4.650, which implies that high importance is placed on man-power level of contractors during the selection process. PCA carried out showed that inter-correlation between Safety Performance and Licensing Requirements was the highest with a value of 0.968. The communalities obtained suggested that Completion Time/Cost has the highest variance of 0.943 while the Varimax rotation carried out rated Licensing Requirements with a factor loading of 0.942 as the most important variable to be considered in carrying out selection of road construction projects’ contractors. From AHP findings three indices groups of Contractors' experience, Health & Safety Performance and Response to Instructions (RI) ranked as the most important selection criteria.